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With the turtleneck he was in Emmanuel Marcon cosplay. Turtlenecks are the new thing because we gotta save energy this winter, you see. Show was mostly terrific. So there. Very good matches after very good matches. You can see the seeds for an MJF face turn because he's there already. Fun little detail that shows one very positive things about the company, Sky Blue acknowledging she needed work on charisma maybe (after she was criticized for not showing any afew weeks ago), while delivering a good punchlines to the heels. That's nice attention to detail. Women match was really good again. Athena is just ridiculous in term of what she's able to execute. Willow is getting over. Penelope has looked really good since her comeback. Jury's out on Saraya, if she works or not. Rush vs Hangman was as good as I expected. Fuck, Rush has totally overdelivered. I hope he doesn't want to follow Andrade's lead. Speaking of overdelivering, Wardlow vs Brian Cage was maybe Wardlow's most fun match. Cage can do so much, just put him back on TV every week already (and I mean Brian). Mox vs Hangman segment was excellent. Yeah, that last line was quite the message to some people in the back. National Scissoring Day was like one of the best feel-good moment in a long while (when did Bowens turned into that promo ? He was the worker of the two, but if he can cut promos like this now, sky is the limit). Main event totally delivering in forwarding the story, Garca and Sammy shined, what else do you want ? As far as Andrade goes, it's ridiculous. The guy physically attacks another worker so he can get fired and go to the opposition ? Sammy gets a lot of shit, but let's be real, even if he's an abrasive asshole, he did not physically attack Eddie Kingston nor Andrade. Because people love Kingston (hey, I do too) they don't see the big picture. Sure, he may be kind of a douchebag, but you also gotta recognize that him and Tay got shat on just because they got together and people got irrational and harrassed them on social media and that was the beginning of the Sammy hate. Nothing he actually did that was unprofessional or some shitty match/performance or unwarranted push. So now Guevarra is the guy to hate because... whatever, he's awful or something. Nah. Honestly, if I'm Paul, I'm not even sure I want Andrade back considering how shitty his attitude seems to be. Of course Charlotte is gonna push for it, but then you have a couple of divas and maybe it's not the best thing for your locker room, especially at a time where optimism rules.

I lasted about ten minutes in front of Tales from the Territories. I'm sure it's cool for Vice and mainstream audience and all, but I've heard the same kinda stories for about twenty years now, and the production I find unbearable with constant camera moves around a bunch of old dudes sitting around a table and non-stop distracting music. After using and abusing every KC shoot interviews, years of Cornette podcasts and such, there's no added value to me there. Not to mention Jerry Lawler looks like an IRL cursed deviantArt moving pic, and I have no desire to hear this guy talk about anything. EDIT : gave it another shot. Dutch tells a few good stories (shocking, I know). I would rather listen to extracts from his podcast on Youtube though. Some stories were downright lame (tiger balm rib, really ?). I understand it's a Vice show and not for hardcores, but even then, I don't see how it tells anything that interesting about the Memphis territory (Meltz actually had the most interesting point last week in that basically of all the territories, Memphis really is the one who predates what modern pro-wrestling is, more than any other). Maybe the Kaufman episode will be better with the focus on one topic.

Come on now. Garcia & Danielson vs Jericho & Sammy is a great main event that showcase both established stars and (excellent) younger guys that are pushed. MJF vs Yuta should be really fun and another good test for Yuta. Rush vs Hangman beating the fuck out of each other sounds terrific. The six-woman tag looks good. Darby vs Lethal will be at worst very good (Lethal is a perfect TV good to have really good matches with and can lose without a problem). The Scissoring Day can be fun and lead to an actual feud or be WWE-like cringe bullshit. Getting Brian Cage back on TV to do a job for Wardlow after being gone forever is more puzzling, but then again, I would rather have Brian Cage on my weekly TV than Wardlow. Luchasaurus squash is a fucking waste of time, like it's been since day one of this angle that apparently will never end. Overall, it's sad that on the three years anniversary there's no Omega nor Young Bucks, but honestly that show looks mostly really good and fun on paper.

Sammy gives me a Shawn Micheals circa 96 vibe. Immature douchebag, incredibly talented, heat magnet both in and out of the ring. AEW should sign Bandido and push him hard as the latino star they crave (I know they offered a contract, but he apparently has not signed, yet). And fuck, just do something more with Rey Fénix, he totally outshined Ricochet in LU as a single star. And have Penta also work his magic in singles and do some crazy-ass brawl with Swerve Strickland. And try Rush. They have the right people, they don't even need Andrade for that kind of cast.

Beware with the pimping, you know how I've been badly burned by comments like these before (2001 WCW is really good, 2011-2013 TNA is the best TNA) But yeah, I'm actually looking forward to getting in 2016 because I know there is some at least intriguing stuff then. The idea of the Dollhouse is kinda cool, but the execution was hokey as hell. Marti Bell is just... not very good, and Mia Yim was a total miscast in the role. Taryn on the other hand, that girl is an absolute forgotten gem. She had no right to be as good as she was, and she indeed was all in on every role she did and made the crazy sexy-doll character entertaining. I've seen a bit of her current NWA stuff and yeah, she's funny as fuck. I would LOVE to have her back in IMPACT today.

X-division champ Tigre Uno cutting a promo defending the people of Mexico after Trump's racist campaign was quite the nice and unexpected turn of event. Cool. X-division champ Tigre Uno challenging Trump to show up at the Impact Zone so he can show him the pride of Mexican culture was true wrestling carny shit. Oh... TNA... Serena Deeb showed up on the same show BTW in a rare TNA appearance (to work a mixed tag with Storm against Mickie James & Magnus the following week) Taryn Terell went from an awesome babyface to whatever the Dollhouse embarrassment was supposed to be. Then again, that girl gave it all and was entertaining anyway. And Gail Kim is a fucking ninja now apparently. Holy shit, Billy Corgan not buying TNA really saved the company in the long run, his booking is straight out of Russo's playbook, repetitive, over-gimmicky, swervy... The obsession with every babyface saying how the fans were the most important thing (Drew Gallaway kinda cringeworthy pandering promos) is a reminder that 2015 was really the year of WWE turning itself brutally against its own audience.

He's a smart guy. He's either coming back whenever his health allows it as the savior and be super over while being an IRL good guy and a professional , either gonna end up back in WWE getting a megastar reaction in a few years and as Trip & Shawn's boy, you know he's gonna be taken care of. Danhausen still gets big pop, but in term of what he actually does, he's been completely meh to me after the first few times. He's Santino Morella. Is Abadon still around ? She really came off like a third rate Su Yung / Rosemary to me, never saw the appeal (especially when her work was not good anyway). Pretty much. I would also work on the inner pace of the shows. Backstage segments feel super rushed usually. The fact they never replay any spots after the matches also gives the show a feel of everything being way too rushed and moving way too fast from stuff that just happened. I don't need a comeback to the Nitro style (although I loved it) but for fuck's sake when Toni Storm does a second rope piledriver to win, you need to show that shit 5 times in a row including in slow-mo during the post match and let the celebration breathe a bit.

Shawn Spears contract may have expired. The highlight of his AEW career was playing off Wardlow during the early MJF angle, he was really funny then (and really more interesting to watch than Wardlow). He was also really good as an early Dark announcer. It's not like he was ever a difference in the company, he was one of Cody's guy and he's having a kid with Cassie Lee. I wouldn't mind him in IMPACT, he could be fun in a small pond. In WWE he would be basically nothing again I guess. Super solid worker though.

Holy shit. And Whatever his name is The Assistant is siding with Andrade, I guess hoping he would get a job wherever Andrade ends up (I have no idea why, the guy has brought literally zilch to the act since day one). And whether it's legit or not (if they end up beating the everloving shit out of each other in the ring in the end, fine), it's time for TK to be a boss and stop all the nonsense going on in his company.

Yeah, Starks should be the next one to be heavily focused on. He's the total package.

Sammy's resume in AEW is nothing but terrific work. Andrade has been super hit and miss (including when he showed up in AAA). Sammy has been over as a heel, as a babyface and now super over as a heel alongside Tay (they really should push them to the moon too, they are just a perfect heel act). Andrade never got nearly the same reactions (granted not helped by booking either) and has been completely overshadowed by Rush in a span of a few weeks. And I like Andrade as a worker. But come on now, there's no comparison between the two in term of output in the last few years. Andrade's social media work is all about him not wanting to be in AEW. Not sure having guys like this in your locker room in the best thing. Not to say Sammy is not kind of a douchebag, but whatever case may be, he's making the most out of it as a character.

Such a wonderful atmosphere in the locker room. Coach TK should grant Andrade his release so him and Charlotte can piss off everybody over there too. Yep. Some have clearly not been the best addition to the team in the long run.

Interestingly enough, after a later part of 2014 that was pretty slow (but still mostly fun) and the really odd (but cool) Bound for Glory show from Korakuen Hall, pretty much totally detached from most of the booking, the 2015 re-debut in New York then in Great Britain was again a super fun and easy product to watch, culminating with the awesome ECIII vs Rockstar Spud match in London. I actually enjoyed the long-term James Storm vs Mickie James angle (you know, the one which culminated with Storm pushing Mickie on subway tracks, very LUesque infact), as James always shines in this kind of relationship-based angles, and James Storm's character as an evil cult leader was actually refreshing (and hell, he was making much more sense than Bray Wyatt ever did too). Best feud Nick Aldis ever did, really, although he did not bring anything special in the grudge match at the end. Tons of strong matches week-in week-out with the Wolves, Young, Aries, Roode, Lashley, Angle as well as the Beat Down Clan, and a few crazy performances by Jeff Hardy. And then Samoa Joe leaves quietly. Taz leaves quietly. And Billy Corgan gets in creative.... and things take a notable downturn. Just like the announcing team of Josh Matthews (who was perfectly fine alongside Callis and Madison Rayne later on) and Pope which gets really bad really fast, the booking gets way more gimmicky and screwy, almost Russoesque at times. It's really striking how quality drops super fast once Corgan gets on board (around May). By the time we get to the show following-up Slammiversary (basically an afterthought of a show, despite an awesome Aries vs Richards match), there's shitload of bullshit on the TV show. Jarrett & Karen showing up was kinda cool though.

Oh, wonderful.

Enlighten me, who's that jolly fellow next to the huge loser on the left ?

Very sorry. I was counting on Brazil to re-balance things up a bit after the Italy debacle. Who books this shit ?

The one thing about the core audience, is that there was a very strong engagement from them in term of supporting the product, buying tickets, buying merchandise, being super hot crowds. Now it seems a good part of their audience has been replaced with a more casual audience that not only is less engaged in buying stuff but also makes for more apathetic crowds, hurting the perception and the experience of AEW shows, which was so great at the beginnings and for a while. One thing is for sure, WWE is mainstream pro-wrestling. You can't change that. If you're not different, you're not WWE and you have to be less than WWE (this is what killed TNA). WCW got mainstream for a short while but they had Hogan/Piper/Savage/Flair, and AEW does not have this (and no, CM Punk wasn't this, the entire cult of CM Punk was part of that "anti-WWE" feeling that got so strong in the mid 10's and on). Chasing the dragon of being a mainstream promotion while having built your entire identity on being a hardcore at heart promotion was probably an insurmontable task. I for one would be happy with a clear cut smaller N°2 which is satisfying to watch as a hardcore pro-wrestling fan. Which I why I never cared one bit for Cody's lame attempt at mainstream attention and I don't care about acts like Wardlow. Hell, I was super happy with the 3 first seasons of Lucha Underground. I'm more interested in what's next, what's new and different. Maybe also, the simple truth is that real exciting and important stuff never lasts too long. ECW best days was about three years. WCW's peak was about three years. NJPW's super hot period in the 10's lasted a bit more, maybe 5 or 6 ? It comes and goes (literally also, if you catch my drift).

He's under contract until mid-2024 and TK is apparently not releasing jackshit so they can go to WWE. Really, Andrade vs #10 in some sort of "big" gimmick match is some extremely lame booking, makes Andrade look third rate. Crazy that Alan Angels and Stu Grayson did not get renewed, but #10 was kept under contract. Of all the Dark Order members...

Case in point : the most successful year of AEW in term of growth and hype was when Omega & the Bucks were finally booked on top and dominated the programs. The so-called "Elite drama", which BTW was long-term the bets booked and most compelling arc in pro-wrestling, spamming over several years and several companies, was finally taking its right spot in the company. Meanwhile Cody, who arguably was the biggest star from the Elite in 2019 and part of 2020, was doing Codyverse things that was very divisive to say the least and wasn't pushed as a top star anymore (he absolutely made the right move leaving when he did, he was the right guy at the right moment and turned himself into a biggest star in the process). And it led to Danielson, Punk & Cole signing which at the time looked to be the beginning of the next level for AEW. Except apart from a few big gates attributed mostly to Punk, that's not what happened. The neverending flux of talent coming from WWE, most of which in the end not making much difference after the initial pop, the seemingly ghosting of departing people who had been there since day 1 (some of whom who really did not need to go like Stu Grayson or Marko Stunt, who had much more to add), the awkward infiltration of ROH leading to a multiplication of useless titles (so now Joe & Wardlow who both hold secondary singles titles are a tag team, wonderful; remember Mercedes Martinez the ROH women champion ?) and oversaturation of new people when they don't have time to get their main brand roster over, all that probably played a part in the audience changing and being a lot less hot than it was before. The streak of injuries derailing booking plans + bullshit dramas (MJF, Punk) + people wanting to leave back to "Papa Trip" all makes for a completely different landscape in a different context. There is need for changes in AEW to adapt to the new context. The Money in the Bank briefcase is one of the worst trope WWE introduced in pro-wrestling. It's so annoying to see people with briefcases in NJPW and it's goofy as hell to see a giant chip. I sure hope they don't go toward the stupid cashes-in bookings. This. All this.

Agreed. How the crowds have evolved is also very much telling of a negative evolution. The shows in Philly and Albany had really shitty WWE-like crowds, sitting on their ass during matches, popping only for bigger stars and entrance/catchphrases (god, don't make the Acclaimed the new NAO, please) and eventually big moves, and not reacting to outsiders. Meltz mentioned how one year ago, a regular AEW crowd would have popped for Juice and go crazy for Bandido. The atmosphere is not the same. There's something to the fact that AEW at first was basically hardcore fans sick of WWE, who followed the Elite in ROH and NJPW and wanted them to continue their own story out of the WWE system. There was an sense of general excitement that is not there anymore. Let's face it, AEW right now is "just" another pro-wrestling company, especially after all the dramas and politic bullshit that happened this year. Not to mention issues with the booking, which at times badly lacks focus, the difficulty of building the women division underlined by an all-time bad segment of the promotion this week, which after a while makes it just as frustrating as it would be with any other promotion. I've been catching up a bit with IMPACT, which I had stopped watching during the Summer, and although things are very different in term of scale, roster and goals, I quickly forgot how fun and easy it is to watch and how *everything* is focused in term of weekly episodic TV (and really to pile it on, they had *three* women matches at Against All Odds, and all involved came off as bigger stars/characters that pretty much anyone in AEW save for Baker and Jade). AEW needs to be different than WWE, not recycle their shitty ideas from 20 years ago. Rampage is already a B-show that I watch out a straight habit at this point, I sure hope they don't get more TV time to fill. Thunder helped kill WCW sense of booking. Rampage has honestly been a completely skippable show for a while now, and adding another hour just to get more money won't help the product in the long run (yeah, I know, money will help the promotion, but please don't add another hour). I dunno what the solution is. WWE getting hotter again and the hope that everybody puts in Paul (for both legit and imaginary reasons) is hurting AEW and that's out of their control. AEW was born out of frustration with WWE as a pro-wrestling product. WWE getting better as a pro-wrestling product makes it harder for AEW, who can't just position themselves as "We are defending true pro-wrestling" anymore and sure need to fly the fuck away from anything too WWE-like, because getting this kind of audience is not gonna work for them. AEW need to keep being different. Coach TK needs some help with the booking of his undercard/midcard, the detail work of week-to-week writing and better formating of the shows.

Andrade feuding with JTTS #10 on Rampage says everything you need to know about how he's seen right now. Which is a shame honestly. Back in NXT with Zelina he came off like a surefire main eventer. They have totally screwed him up at first by putting him with Vicky Guerrero and he never really recovered despite the cool Cody Rhodes series of matches (which he lost in the end, like Malakai Black). The pairing with Whoever the Assistant never made any sense to me, one of my pet peeves in pro-wrestling has always been guys like the Assistant, bland second who don't bring anything to the act. He's been doing nondescript stuff every other weeks with his "stable" which has done nothing. He's been completely overshadowed by Rush in a span of a few weeks. Was that too hard to pair him with a hot latina valet who could talk for him and cheat and have him win the TNT title and have a lenghty reign ? It would not be surprising if the guy would want back in WWE to be alongside his wife, for sure. Hell, Zelina is doing nothing of note either there. They need to sign Bandido and push him and Rush as latino stars on a serious level.

Checked out NHK World just the the heck of it. Very first headline : Antonio Inoki passed away.

50 years after founding arguably the second most important pro-wrestling company ever (arguably because CMLL), Inoki passes away. He's legit one of the most famous and most important promoter/wrestler in history (top 3 ?) and one of the most insane too (top 1 ?). The Queen is dead, the King is dead.

I understand Christian got hurt but yeah, really now. The Christian turn was great. Since then, between the edgelords promos and the double-swerve / delayed because of injury, this angle has stalled Jungle Boy's arc for no good reason. He should move on after beating Luchasaurus and have Cage come back to screw him later on whenever he's ready to go. I feel like a broken record, but AEW needs a Scott D'Amore to book a consistant week-to-week product. The super exciting and feelgood period of All Friends Wrestling is gone. The era of barrage of surprises coming from Vince's WWE is done too, the paradigm has changed. TK needs to find the right balance now, he has a shitload of great talent, great relationships with IMPACT, NJPW, AAA and indies basically, there's unlimited potential there. But we need focus, attention to timing, some work on the backstage stuff which always feels rushed and repetitive (or don't do it at all), better booking of the women division with more emphasis on developing personalities and feuds that matter.

That's been a constant issue with some of their angles. They hit the exact right moment to hit the spot... and don't do it, for no good reason whatsoever. Jamie Hayter should have turned a few weeks back already, when the crowd was at its hottest for her (sadly for Toni Storm, it was not her time to win the title, that's not what the audience wanted). Hit the iron when it's hot, especially when you really don't have that much long-term plans. Same went for the Julia Hart turn, they totally screwed that one up (and really, apart from dressing up cool, poor Julie never had anything to do, until she took that wicked bump last week). The reason why the Hangman Page storyline was so good is basically because it was a long-term Elite angle, and they are the masters of it. I have no idea where they are going with Saraya, but this has to be by far the worst debut angle AEW ran since it's beginning (Andrade was bleh, but inoffensive, Miro was goofy but I had hope the wedding angle that it was leading toward would be great, which it wasn't in the end). Awful Stephy/Brooke Hogan vibes from it. Her talking about the "Revolution" like we need more reference to WWE revisionist history (the true "revolution" in US women's wrestling was in TNA with Gail Kim & Awesome Kong in 2007) was absolutely cringeworthy. This. Wardlow doing powerbombs has jumped the shark a while ago. Powerhouse Hobbs is better on pretty much every level (he's just not as tall). Get the TNT title on someone fun to watch at least. As far as the TBS title goes... I guess as long as Jade can do crazy shit like that catch of Diamanté last week, it still has some sails, but there has to be a point where thing evolves, it is stalling way too much now. Hopefully we get FTR vs the Acclaimed before FTR lose the IWGP titles too. The Acclaimed are super over and but really I don't think they even need to keep the title for too long. They could be an act that doesn't need it to stay over at that level.